00:00To me, jazz is the only truly international language.
00:04You can speak it anywhere in the world and be understood.
00:22At the intersection of Europe and Asia,
00:25Baku has long been a meeting point of cultures, ideas, and sounds.
00:30Jazz gained popularity in Azerbaijan in the early 20th century,
00:35taking root in Baku's cosmopolitan cultural environment.
00:39In 2015, I published my book,
00:42The Jazz History of Azerbaijan.
00:44Just like jazz affected the development of culture
00:49in the country back in the 1930s,
00:55Today, it's especially important to introduce people to good music.
01:01And I am confident that the future of Azerbaijani jazz will last.
01:10Over the past decades,
01:12the Azerbaijani capital has developed a distinctive jazz identity,
01:16blending Western improvisation with the traditions of Muhammad.
01:20Nowadays, musicians say that this fusion continues to position Baku
01:25as one of the region's most dynamic jazz centers.
01:32If we are talking about the Mugam jazz,
01:35so there is like a mixing between two genres.
01:38And traditional music of the Mugam has the seven scales,
01:42but also adding with a different major and minor scales.
01:47It could be a different rhythm, different dynamics, etc.
01:51And you have to pay attention to not break up this synthase.
02:09The musicians, we have to, we must collaborate with musicians.
02:13We have a Baku Jazz Festival, we have a Baku Piano Festival,
02:16which brings the stage for young generation to,
02:22to, you know, present themselves.
02:25When people ask me that, what's your music about?
02:28I say that it's my life.
02:29I'm playing my life.
02:30I don't play the music.
02:31I play my life.
02:32That's it.
02:33I advise any musician in the world to be in love with life.
02:39You know, when you're in love,
02:40you can create unbelievable things.
02:44Unbelievable.
02:47Today, contemporary local artists carry the legacy
02:50of Azerbaijani jazz forward,
02:52positioning Baku as a place where cultures meet through music.
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